AEM joined this week with TRIP, a transportation research group, the American Farm Bureau Federation and AAA to call attention to a new report about the startling state of disrepair of America's rural roads.

The report from TRIP - "Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America's Heartland" - offers a comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing many rural, non-Interstate roads. The report highlights safety and economic concerns that have arisen due to poor maintenance of rural roads.

"So many of our industry's manufacturing facilities and their workers are located in rural America, where they depend on safe and efficient roads for their livelihoods," AEM Chair Rick Patek said in a release accompanying the report. "As Congress weighs how to extend the Highway Trust Fund, they would be well-advised to read this report and consider the effects of their actions on rural roads."

AEM helped lead efforts to publicize the report as part of its broader advocacy efforts to encourage Congress to pass a long-term surface transportation bill this year.

In addition to helping organize media coverage of the TRIP report, AEM helmed a social media campaign drawing attention to the report's findings. That effort included the use of innovative infographics distributed through the I Make America campaign's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.